Mac clone maker Psystar plans to file its answer to Apple's copyright infringement lawsuit Tuesday as well as a countersuit of its own, alleging that Apple engages in anticompetitive business practices. Miami-based Psystar, owned by Rudy Pedraza, will sue Apple under two federal laws designed to discourage monopolies and cartels, the Sherman Antitrust Act and the Clayton Antitrust Act, saying Apple's tying of the Mac OS to Apple-labeled hardware is "an anticompetitive restrain of trade", according to attorney Colby Springer of antitrust specialists Carr & Ferrell. Psystar is requesting that the court find Apple's EULA void, and is asking for unspecified damages. Psystar's attorneys are calling Apple's allegations of Psystar's copyright infringement "misinformed and mischaracterized". Psystar argues that its OpenComputer product is shipped with a fully licensed, unmodified copy of Mac OS X, and that the company has simply "leveraged open source-licensed code including Apple's OS" to enable a PC to run the Mac operating system.

So, if this is true, it means that I can go buy a copy of a PC game and make it run on my PowerPC Mac, right? Cause, a software company cannot restrict what hardware the software runs on, right? Wrong.

If Apple loses, it's going to become near impossible to install Mac OS X on non-Apple hardware, not easier.

Yes, this is correct. If you can overcome the technical difficulties, there are going to be no contractual difficulties. Any contract forbidding you to do it is not going to be enforceable. Don't violate copyright, by making unauthorized copies, though you will be able to make as many as are necessary for the installation, and you'll be fine.

Yes, this is correct. If you can overcome the technical difficulties, there are going to be no contractual difficulties. Any contract forbidding you to do it is not going to be enforceable. Don't violate copyright, by making unauthorized copies, though you will be able to make as many as are necessary for the installation, and you'll be fine.

It of course depends on your area of jurisdiction. As I showed here [1], in The Netherlands, Apple's EULA is most likely perfectly enforceable. Of course I can't speak for the United States, but it would be nice if someone wrote a similar article to what I did about the Apple EULA in the US.

So, if this is true, it means that I can go buy a copy of a PC game and make it run on my PowerPC Mac, right? Cause, a software company cannot restrict what hardware the software runs on, right? Wrong.

Err, you are perfectly free to do that. You are perfectly free to buy an Intel game, and make it run on a PowerPC Mac, using virtualisation or whatever. Heck, some companies even make a decent living out of that stuff, such as Codeweaver. They make Windows games run on Linux, and thee has never been a single game company who cried foul over that one.

The same even goes for game consoles. A common "argument" that I've been reading today on Apple websites is that if Apple loses this case, console makers should also make it possible to cross-play games on different consoles.

It's a stupid argument because in fact, there is nothing stopping you from doing so. If you buy an XBox 360 game, and you can make it run on a PS3, then more power to you, nobody is going to stop you. It's most likely impossible, but if you can write an emulator that plays XBox 360 games on a PS3, and you sell that emulator, go ahead. Heck, you can even re-sell games with the emulator included!

The same with phones. The Apple people also say that this also means that phone operating systems should be able to run on other systems. Well, again: go ahead! Be my guest! Make an image out of your phone, and install and run it on your vibrator for all I care - you are perfectly allowed to do so.

It will be nigh-on impossible, but it's not illegal in any way.

A lot of ridiculous comparisons are being drawn in this debate, and it's sickening, especially since people actually seem to believe this crap. People have been so indoctrinated by Apple and other companies, conditioned into believing that they can only use the software in a way that they, the companies, deem fit. However, in you own home, you are allowed to do whatever the frak you want with software, including running it on vibrators and electric toothbrushes. Reselling is also okay, as long as you didn't make any modifications.

People, you have RIGHTS. USE those for frak's sake.

In The Netherlands, it is LEGAL to download music, movies, and other stuff, even if you don't own it, because a levy is being charged on empty media. This is the right of every consumer in The Netherlands. I also have the right to do with software in my own home as I please. And I will do so.

If that includes installing my legally purchased copy of Mac OS X Leopard on an electric feebledwindleretaatushynkioareo-o-mat, than so be it.

So you are comparing Codeweavers to the right to be able to make any application work on your computer? So, Codeweavers just buys a bunch of EA Games and modifies them to work on Macs? A silly comparison.

Virtualization is another story entirely - you're faking/virtualizing hardware or a specific OS so you can run compatible applications. It still doesn't mean your application is compatible with your hardware.

The truth is there are no real examples of what you folks are asking for. No one is clamoring for Vista to run on PPC machines. It's either up to the OS manufacturer to decide what they support - or the hardware manufacturer can develop drivers. This is how every operating system (minus Linux) works.

And again, if Apple loses, Snow Leopard (and on) will be seriously tied to the hardware. Apple is not going to be forced to sell Leopard for every computer. And even if they do, they don't have to provide drivers for anything other than what they want. So what's the point?

So, if this is true, it means that I can go buy a copy of a PC game and make it run on my PowerPC Mac, right? Cause, a software company cannot restrict what hardware the software runs on, right? Wrong.

What do you mean 'wrong'?
Ofcourse you can do that. Do you think the game creators would mind if you run their game through an emulator or what ever way you wanted to run it in different hardware?
Ofcourse not, as long as you bought their game they are happy as a clam.

So, if this is true, it means that I can go buy a copy of a PC game and make it run on my PowerPC Mac, right? Cause, a software company cannot restrict what hardware the software runs on, right? Wrong.

What do you mean 'wrong'?
Ofcourse you can do that. Do you think the game creators would mind if you run their game through an emulator or what ever way you wanted to run it in different hardware?
Ofcourse not, as long as you bought their game they are happy as a clam.

But aren't they restricting the hardware I can install it on by not supporting my specific hardware?